'Star Wars: The Clone Wars': Darth Maul

Who’s legless, horned, and red and black all over? Darth Maul, of course!

EW first reported in October that The Phantom Menace‘s fearsome, tattooed Sith Lord survived his vivisection at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi and would be making his vengeful return to that galaxy far, far away on The Clone Wars‘ March season finale. Now he’s getting the big screen treatment once again. Starting today, a special teaser of Maul in his raging animated form will play before screenings of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace 3D in AMC, Cinemark, and Regal theater chains, among others that feature National CineMedia’s First Look advertisements. But before you open your wallet for that 3-D ticket, EW’s got this sneak peek for you first. Check out the clip after the break:

Well, someone sure isn’t playing with a full Sabacc deck, huh? When Maul’s return was first hinted on The Clone Wars, his brother Savage Opress learned the former Sith warrior was living in exile in the Outer Rim. Given that this looks like Maul’s living in a quasi-industrial junkyard, I’d put the planet Kessel on the short list of fiery hellscapes that could be his new domain. And he’s obviously still carrying a grudge against Obi-Wan Kenobi and Co., with that fiercely snarled “JEDI!” (With just that one outburst, he only needs two more lines to match his entire dialogue quota from The Phantom Menace.) “He’s suffered through a lot to keep himself alive,” Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni tells EW. “First of all, how does he survive getting cut in half? Plus, he fell! So there was a lot of jeopardy for that poor guy. He’s implemented the training of his master to keep himself alive.”

Supernatural Sith survival techniques are all well and good, but based on this clip Maul clearly needs to devote more time to his grooming. Those horns are begging for a trim. But I suppose you might let yourself go if you’re cut in half.

When Maul makes his return on the March finale, it’ll be at the end of an epic four-episode arc that’s going to tie up a bunch of The Clone Wars‘ loose ends. So get caught up by reading all of our weekly recaps, and share your theories with other fans during EW’s Live Chat of each episode every Friday night. Tonight at 7:40 p.m. ET, Maul’s nemesis himself, Obi-Wan Kenobi (a.k.a. actor James Arnold Taylor), will be joining us to chat live with you and take your questions.